​ISIS beheads female civilians for the first time - monitor

Islamic State militants have beheaded two civilian women in Syria for the first time, a monitor says, adding that the victims were accused of sorcery and witchcraft and were executed along with their husbands.

"ISIS executed two
women by beheading them in Deir Ezzor [Deir al-Zor] province [in
eastern Syria], and this is the first time the Observatory has
documented women being killed by the group in this manner,"
Rami Abdulrahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights
said.

The beheadings took place on Monday and Sunday. One woman was
murdered in the provincial capital with her husband. The other
woman was also killed with her husband in al-Mayadeen (Mayadin)
city.

According to the monitor, all of the victims were accused of
“witchcraft and sorcery.”

In recent days Islamic
State (IS, formerly ISIS) militants have also strung up eight
men, including two minors, alive on crucifixes for reportedly
failing to fast during Ramadan, a Muslim religious period.

IS militants, who now control large parts of Iraq and Syria, have
launched a massive PR campaign posting videos of hostage
executions and other propaganda stunts online.

They often appeal to the religious feelings of Muslims, discords
between the sects of Islam, as well as to outrage caused by
Western interventions in the Middle East.

The extremists performed multiple atrocities in the region,
beheading local and foreign men, including fighters, journalists
and aid workers. One of the multiple videos by the group shows
the beheading of 21 Christian Egyptians kidnapped in Libya

In February they reportedly burnt 45 people alive near the town
al-Baghdadi in western Iraq. A Jordanian pilot Moath al-Kasasbeh
who was captured by militants in late December, was burnt alive
in a cage.